Jeremy Irons on Gay Marriage: "Could a Father Not Marry His Son?"

Academy Award winning actor Jeremy Irons said Wednesday that while he doesn't have much of a strong opinion either way on same-sex marriage, he believes it poses interesting questions, including whether allowing same-sex marriage would open the door for interfamilial relationships.
"Could a father not marry his son?" Irons asked HuffPost Live host Josh Zepps. Irons argued that "it's not incest between men" because "incest is there to protect us from inbreeding, but men don't breed," and wondered whether same-sex marriage might allow fathers to pass on their estates to their sons without being taxed.
"It seems to me that now they're fighting for the name," Irons said of advocates for same-sex marriage as opposed to civil unions. "I worry that it means somehow we debase, or we change, what marriage is. I just worry about that."
Irons reiterated that he "[doesn't] have a strong feeling either way" on same-sex marriage, and said that he "[wishes] everybody who's living with one other person the best of luck in the world, because it's fantastic."
"Living with another animal, whether it be a husband or a dog, is great," he said. "It's lovely to have someone to love. I don't think sex matters at all. What it's called doesn't matter at all."
Irons also blasted New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg over the proposed restrictions on soda, describing himself as a "complete libertarian" and likening Bloomberg's policies to a "nanny state."

OK then, R3. A vasectomy. My point is that incest is criminal not to protect "us" from inbreeding. That would assume we'd all be fucking our mothers and sisters if only it weren't illegal.
It's illegal because it invariably involves coercion and in any case causes psychological damage to minors.

Meant r4

R12

Wow R11. It sounds like Mr. Irons has some urges he needs to deal with.

[quote]"Living with another animal, whether it be a husband or a dog, is great," he said. "It's lovely to have someone to love
That's the analogy [italic][bold]I[/bold][/italic] always use! It's just like kissing your dog!

Hal%20Sparks

I agree with my dear co-star Jeremy.

Kevin%20Spacey

[quote]"Could a Father Not Marry His Son?"
Of course! But there are probably other benefits too.

Jeremy%20Bieber

R12, incest between siblings doesn't "invariably" involve coercion. Not taking a position, just looking for logical consistency.
And he's right about Bloomberg. You don't have to be a libertarian to call a Nanny State when you see one.

When I was in college, I knew Cynthia Nixon (who was at the time working on Broadway in "The Real Thing") through a mutual close friend who was in my dorm (and who had gone to high school with her). We spent a little time together, during which our mutual friend asked her in front of me what working with Jeremy Irons was like. She said he was one of the most vain and pompous men she had ever met in her life, and that even though he was not the director of "The Real Thing" he would give all the other actors--including Glenn Close!!!--lengthy notes after the show, as if he were the director himself.

Incest between siblings doesn't typically occur as a mutual attraction between consenting adults. It happens, I suppose, but far more likely an older brother is coercing a sister.

My first thought exactly r11. Don't like this question coming from Irons. Don't like to hear anything from that guy.

What's all this talk of inbreeding as if it's a bad thing. I'm perfectly normal and I'm proud of my pure blood.

Joffrey%20Baratheon

This man believes he's some sort of genius and philosopher. I think he's a good actor, sometimes, but I've never enjoyed his interviews. Always something dumb coming out of his mouth.
Isn't it pretty well known that he and his wife are in an open marriage? I don't know how open it is at this point, because who still wants to have sex with Jeremy Irons? Some TV presenter sued him a few years ago because she allegedly slipped and fell in his hotel suite. I also remember some story about how Carly Simon seduced him in the mid-80s and sought him out to direct one of her music videos. She supposedly aborted his child. My point is that this man is the last person who should care about changing the definition of marriage.

lol @ R5

Robert De Niro was intimidated by him when filming The Mission because Irons had no fears (like heights), and everything came very easily to him. They were like night and day according to the director of that movie.
It was very treacherous filming the Mission.

He's an academy award winning actor? really? never heard of him.

"What it's called doesn't matter at all." "
Accodring to him, it does. Which is why he seems to be opposed to calling it marriage.

Has he always been such an asshole? Can a father marry his daughter if she's incapable of reproducing? Let us know, asswipe.
I can't believe how out of touch some people are and that they have no ability to discern like for like.

Marriage should be between 1 Mother and 1 Son!

J.%20Irons%2C%20Articulate%20British%20Genius

Lots of people think that way, R27. Look at the French reaction, and it wasn't because of religion, just as I'M SURE religion doesn't factor into Iron's opinion.

"I didn't know he was so stupid."
Yes, you did. You heard the horrendously stupid things he said about women, but most likely gave him a waiver.

What is with these idiots and their warped realities? I cannot think of one gay friend that is considering dating his father - which is the same number of straight guys I know that are planning on marrying their mother.

r31 what did he say about women?

What a dimwit. I didn't realize he's so dumb.

And that is the end of my having any interest in the theatrical stylings of Mr. "Equate Equal Marriage Rights for Same-Sex Partners with 'Nonexistent' Father/Son Incest" Irons.
Bloody, phony, nasty-minded, nasty-mouthed bastard. Not only did he blithely and pitilessly insult gay men, he insulted women by ignoring their part in the fight for equal rights AND he offended all male incest/sex abuse survivors.
Asshole.

[r33]: I think there was a thread on here. Naturally, the resident DL misogynists were defending him.

The "slippery slope" is the last excuse the people opposed have to hang on to.

Thanks r36 and r37
So he's a misogynist, a homophobe, and an overall douchebag.

Well, he did put Glenn Close into a coma, so he's not all bad.

M.%20Streep

[r40]: Misogynists almost ALWAYS are homophobes.

With the amount of diarrhea that comes out of Jeremy Irons' mouth, How fucked up and creepy is the inside of his mind?

completely batshit crazy.

...or homos, R42, if DL is any indicator.

So, when is the last time any of you have been invited to a commitment ceremony between a father and a son? Or two brothers? Or between a man and a dog? Legalize such unions, and we will still never be invited to such a wedding. The fact of the matter is our society deals with it.
My partner and I live together as a married couple. The vast majority of people in our family and all of our friends accept our relationship. They invite us to events, to their homes, come to our home, celebrate holidays with us, etc. Our social circle approves by allowing us to partake. A few fundamentalist nuts in my family do not approve. So, I never see them. Big deal. If a man married his son, guess what? Most likely society would shun them. If a man marries a pig, guess what? They probably wouldn't be invited to many bar mitvahs or dinner parties.
Let people do what they do. Call it marriage if they want it to be called marriage. Society will react accordingly and act as a control. If a man really, really loves his dog and wants to marry it, he can decide if its really worth all the social ramifications to do so. Which is the same reason that none of us know of any commitment ceremonies held for such couples while we know of countless held for gay couples. Gay couples want to openly commit to one another. Fathers and sons, brothers and brothers, men and pigs, men and dogs, generally, do not.

So if a daughter got her tubes tied, by his logic she could marry her father?
He's always been an odd duck. He was too good as Claus von Bulow not to have some kind of dark side.

Kind of rich coming from a guy who cruised when I was an extra in one of his movies years ago...
And, yes, I am a guy.

He's absolutely right. Its a slippery slope to moral breakdown.

So marriage is immoral, R49? Let's abolish the institution all together.

Re the comment by Jeremy Irons - Who even thinks like that?
Of course, this will be repeated and cherished by the fundie-nuts in the US. Thanks, airhead Irons. I always thought he had an icky vibe and he always looked a little taxidermic.

Details, r48? (Which movie, how old were you, how did he cruise you?)

Hey now, I'm sure he was misquoted.

Margin%20Call%20producer%20Zach%20Quinto

"Chinese Box", I was an extra in a crowd scene in Hong Kong, 29 at the time. During a break, he was intent on making eye contact and making me very uncomfortable. I found him very creepy and had no intention to reciprocate or hook up with him.

R48

Good dish, r19 and r54.
What a creep. I can see how he jumped at playing Humbert Humbert.

Oh please, R54. I'm sure that was your imagination working overtime.
I know someone who worked for him, and she compared him to Bill Clinton.

[quote]I know someone who worked for him, and she compared him to Bill Clinton.
Why? Did he splooge on her dress?

I'm now not sure why, but I thought he was an intelligent man.

More, please R56.

total pussyhound, big bush supporter....

[quote]I'm now not sure why, but I thought he was an intelligent man.
It's the accent. It'll get you every time.

That moronic piece of booze drenched shit has officially lost touch with reality.

That's exemplary british assholism.

J'adore Monsieur Irons!

Anais%20Nin%27s%20Nifty%20Diary

Yes, given his views on women, why am I still surprised? I used to think that voice was so sexy... Mr. Irons apparently never learned about the fool keeping silent vs opening his mouth and removing all doubt.

He killed my friend Sunny V.B.!

Karen Walker

He's worried about gay marriage being a slippery slope? How about his libertarianism and pedophilia? That's looking pretty slippery.
Get some real boundaries, dude.

he is a bit vampire-ish

I'd call him ghoul-ish.

LOL. Let's bash and degrade Jeremy Irons because he obviously IS NOT in favor of same sex marriage.
He brings up good points.

they're terrible points. degrading and mean spirited. and the same dehumanizing trash gay people have had to endure since it was labeled a psychological disorder.

r5 Funny. I just reread Twins last month. Much better book than movie.

only one nomination.

M

Oh my, I used to like Irons. He can't be this dense, can he? He must have many gay friends from all his years on stage and acting in general, yet says this?
True, men can't breed, but there's still a huge negative psychological component to incest, and there's definitely a social and cultural component that makes it not okay.
"Slippery slope" is the argument of intellectually lazy people. Seriously. Laws set boundaries and some of those boundaries change in different ways over time, and some remain the same. The law has always accommodated change. The notion that same-sex marriage is the one boundary, which if crossed, it means the end of all boundaries (the end of law) is absolutely ridiculous. We really can have legal same sex marriage and still not allow beastiality. We really can have legal same sex marriage and not allow incest. It's like saying if we legalize marijuana, we would have to legalize cocaine.

Then he talks about dogs, so he is into beastiality like than Reagan person.

Holy Shit!

I remember reading an interview with Juliette Binoche saying that he more or less was creepy/stalkerish on the set of Damaged. Their sex scene would end and he would not stop.

I agree with you, R74. The slippery slope argument is both lazy and preposterous. Consensual, adult, incestual relationships exist. They are extremely rare, but they do exist. And people have sex with animals. Again, very rare, but it happens. Likewise, gay people have sex. The difference is that many gay people are also in very public, committed relationships. Mny gay people have also petitioned for the right to marry. The same can not be said for fathers and sons, brothers and brothers, men and dogs, men and dolphins, or whatever bizarre coupling dreamed up by madly perverse conservatives. Conservatives seem to believe that marriage equals sex. So because they heard one time about a man having sex with a goat (okay, they are just looking back fondly on their own personal experience), they think that someone will want to marry a goat. But I have never heard about someone dating a goat or petitioning for the right to marry a goat. Once again, the conservatives jump through hoops to avoid taking an honest look at humanity.

R46

Well, well, well. If he only says something awful about women, those "cunts" just need to get a "sense of humor" and "not take things so seriously". Shouldn't gay men do the same?
*snort*

Sad to hear him spout the desperate stuff of UK reactionaries - "Does this mean I can marry my horse?!" etcetera. Sounds like he's parroting 'The Daily Telegraph.'
I wonder how peers in the theatre world such as Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Nicholas Hytner and many more will view his comments.
FWIW years ago when Brideshead was big a gossip columnist told me that Irons and David Essex were very close during 'Godspell.' I'm old, but not so old as Jeremy.

What a douche bag. I thought he was going to say some really insightful thing.
Clearly he dose not know the difference between a movie script and thoughtful insight.
This movie is a dead ringer for what he is taking about and his incestuous obsession.

Incest, bestiality, that's where their minds immediately go. These conservatives are some sick fucks.

I'm sick and tired of people bringing up same sex marriage issues and then using the gay angle to call up all sorts of shady gradations and judgements in a really moralizing sense. How would they feel if we inferred that their marriages and relationships were unknitting the fine moral fabric of human society? That if one more straight couple married, the sky would open up and hellfire would rain down left and right as pigs married men, women married trees, and children married their favorite flavor of popsicle?
It's really and truly the biggest load of bullshit to align a total lack of order, reason, and normalcy to gay relationships and marriages and it drives me absolutely insane.
And finally: screw you, Irons.

Stepping%20down%20from%20my%20soapbox%20

What puzzles me is that at the beginning Irons seems perfectly fine with civil unions, but for gays to fight for the right to call it marriage crosses the line and leads to father and son marriages for tax reasons. That's what makes me think WTF?
The whole incest vs. interbreeding argument, is as other posters mentioned, not an unfamiliar opinion at Datalounge.
Irons comes off as a babbling buffoon without a moral compass guiding him through the interview.

I like the fact that Jeremy Irons is a moron. Better for me! I like having people BELOW me. Yes,I'm narcissist.

Johan

I'm done with this old queen. DONE, and with his tired fucking show.

Jesus Christ, seriously, what is wrong with these people?

This dude thinks he found a genius loophole. What's to stop a father from marrying his son in order to avoid estate taxes, he asks? Gee, I dunno...probably the same thing currently stopping fathers from marrying their daughters in order to avoid estate taxes. What a fucktard.